By John Bennett

I'm often asked to explain why people should support Sierra Club Canada? “Because we provide one of the best, most up-to-date sources of information on issues impacting the Canadian environment,” I often reply.

For example, late last night I received a high-priority email from our in-house climate expert Paul Beckwith (Paul is a climatologist, physicist and part-time professor with the University of Ottawa). In his email Paul wrote: “John, it’s urgent you see the new NASA satellite visualization of the cracking sea ice between February 17th and March 18th…this has never happened before! Normally the ice just melts at the outer edges but in this case almost the entire ice sheet is on the move and breaking up (which is indicative of the extreme thinness, and slushiness, and weakness of the ice). March is always the time of year when the ice should be strongest ... this is REALLY bad news!... Read more »

By John Bennett

A few weeks ago, the US Ambassador to Canada hinted that Canada would need to clean up its environmental act if it wanted to see the Keystone XL Pipeline approved. The ambassador was then followed by newly appointed Secretary of State John Kerry, who left a similar impression at a news conference. Of course, all this came on the heels of very strong statements on climate change by President Obama in his recent State of the Union address.

Greenwash Action Plan... Read more »

By John Bennett

This time last year I told you about a storm gathering here in Ottawa that threatened to blow Sierra Club and other environmental groups out of existence. At the time I asked you to consider making a donation as it may be the last time you could do so and receive a tax receipt. I would have forgiven you for thinking I was overstating the seriousness of the situation at the time. Unfortunately, much of what I predicted came to pass in 2012.... Read more »

Melting Arctic sea ice aims Frankenstorm Sandy directly at the Big Apple

By Paul Beckwith

Frankenstorm Sandy is a scary beast. A hybridization between a tropical hurricane and a mid-latitude cyclone, her behavior is not natural at all. Moving northward off the east coast, Sandy is turning left toward land instead of right toward the sea. Sandy’s being blocked from moving north by a high pressure area of enormous magnitude, and being sucked west by a low pressure region of very exceptional (and highly unusual) strength. Thus the designation “Frankenstorm”.... Read more »